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Mae Questel
Mae Questel was a voice actress best known for voicing''' Olive Oyl' & 'Betty Boop. At the age of 17 by winning a competition that was held in the RKO Fordham Theater''' in order to select a young lady who could most successfully imitate''' Helen Kane's whiny neurotic baby talk act, Cartoon filmmaker Max Fleischer' saw Questel's impersonation of Helen Kane in 1931 and asked her to use it for his cartoon creation '''Betty Boop'. The character, which began life as a cartoon dog with Kane-like affectations, had already been voiced by various actresses, most notably''' Margie Hines,''' Little Ann Little, Bonnie Poe, and Kate Wright. Each of these actresses utilized Kane's flirty, babydoll voice and catchphrase "boop-oop-a-doop," but it was Questel who made Betty Boop a media phenomenon. A better singer and improviser than her predecessors, she also modeled for Fleischer's animators who based many of the character's emerging physical quirks on Questel's own mannerisms. Indeed, Questel told''' Leslie Cabarga, author of '''The Fleischer Story , "I actually lived the part of Betty Boop; walked, talked, everything! It took me a long time to sort of lower my voice and get away from the character." She began in vaudeville, and played occasional small roles in films and television later in her career, most notably the role of Aunt Bethany in 1989's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation . Over the years she played a number of small parts, including appearing with Rudy Valle as Betty Boop in the 1931 short Musical Justice and as a nurse in The Musical Doctor in 1932. From 1931 until 1938, Questel provided the voice of Betty Boop and was the longest run for any actress doing the voice of Betty. During the 1930's she released a recording of "On the Good Ship Lollipop" which sold more than two million copies. Retirement During the 80's Mae Questel became i'll and retired but still had a contract with King Features' for the Olive Oyl from the Popeye the Sailorman series. ' *'In 1980 Mae was replaced by '''Victoria Marie D'Orazi because it was felt by '''New Line Cinema '''that Mae Questel’s voice was '''inappropriate for the new songs that were included. *'Mae was also replaced by 'Desirée Goyette in 1985 as the voice of Betty Boop. ' *'Mae reprised her role as Betty in the 1988 film 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' but in 1989 Mae was replaced by Melissa Fahn. During the 80's Mae used her Betty Boop voice in interviews and conventions and would perform a song made popular by Helen Kane "'Button Up Your Overcoat". Characters voiced by Mae Questel in the Betty Boop Series *Baby Boop (Is my Palm Read) *Junior (The Foxy Hunting) *Aloysius/Billy Boop (Stopping the Show &''' Let Me Call You Sweetheart') *Mrs Boop in '''Minnie the Moocher' *Pudgy *Evil Queen in Snow White *Bimbo's Mother in Minding the Baby *Junior in The Foxy Hunter Other Work Mae Questel also provided the voice of Felix the Cat in three shorts produced by Van Beuren Studios, and Cute Kitty &''' Louise the Mouse''' in Famous Studio's '"'Herman & Katnip". Little Audrey and''' Casper the friendly ghost''' in their respective animated shorts. The Woman in the Shoe &''' Little Bo Peep''' in color classics. In the 1950s, she was the voice for the title character of the pioneering interactive Saturday-morning cartoon series''' Winky Dink and You'. Questel's final film was a voice cameo appearance in' Felix the Cat: The Movie'. She continued to provide the voice for '''Olive Oyl' in television specials and elsewhere until her death. Death *Mae Questel died in 1998 from complications related to Alzhimer's disease at the age of 89 in New York City. She was buried in West Babylon, New York's New Montefiore Cemetery. She had two sons, Robert Balkin, who pre-deceased her, and''' Richard', who survived her. Filmography 1931 *Silly Scandals *Bimbo's Initation *Minding the Baby *Musical Justice as (Betty Boop) live action. 1932 *Minnie the Moocher *Crazy Town *The Dancing Fool *Chess Nuts *Admission Free *Stopping the Show *Betty Boop M.D. *Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle *Betty Boop's Ups and Downs *Betty Boop for President *Betty Boop's Museum *The Betty Boop Limited 1933 *Betty Boop's Crazy Inventions *Is My Palm Read? *Betty Boop's Penthouse Snow White *I Heard 1934 *Ha! Ha! Ha! Betty Boop's Rise to Fame *Betty Boop's Trial *There's Something About a Soldier *Betty Boop's Little Pal *Betty Boop's Prize Show *Keep in Style *When My Ship Comes In 1935 *Baby Be Good *Taking the blame *Stop That Noise *Swat The Fly *No! No! A Thousand Times No! *A Little Soap and Water *A language All My Own *Betty Boop and Grampy *Judge for a Day *Making Stars *Henry, the Funniest Living American *Little Nobody 1936 *Betty Boop and the Little King *Not Now *Betty Boop and Little Jimmy *We Did it *A Song A Day *More Pep *You're Not built That Way *Happy You and Merry Me *Training Pigeons *Grampy's Indoor Outing *Be Human *Making Friends 1937 *House Cleaning Blues *Whoops! I'm a Cowboy *The Hot Air Salesman *Pudgy Takes a Bow Wow *Pudgy Picks a Fight! *The Impractical Joker *Ding Dong Doggie *The Candid Candidate *Service with a Smile *The New Deal Show *The Foxy Hunter *Zula Hula 1938 *Riding the Rails *Be Up to Date Trivia * Questel had a '''withered arm'; in her on-camera film appearances, she was usually photographed with elbows bent and both hands at her waist or holding an object in the crook of her elbow to make it less obvious that one arm was shorter and smaller than the other. * Mae Questel was once thought to be the only voice of Betty Boop, when Betty was revived in the 80's. * Mae had embarked upon a career in teaching when some of her friends, knowing her to be a natural mimic, entered her in a Helen Kane impersonation contest at the''' RKO Fordham Theater''' where Miss Helen Kane was appearing. * Mae's dead-on mimicry earned her a contract with the RKO''' vaudeville circuit which finally kicked off her '''professional career '''of voice-acting. * Mae Questel is probably best known as "Aunt Blue Bell" in the 70's paper towel commercials and as the '''Aunt Bethany in 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. * Mae Questel was often mistaken for Bonnie Poe in''' Hollywood On Parade A8'''. Gallery 4485255798 7764e6f763 m.jpg Mae Questel 02.PNG Mae Questel 03.PNG Mae Questel 04.PNG Mae6.png Mae4.PNG Mae5.jpg mae2.jpg mae1.jpg mae3.png See Also *Mae Questel at the Internet Broadway Database *Mae Questel at the Internet Movie Database *Mae Questel at AllRovi *Mae Questel at the TCM Movie Database *Mae Questel at Find a Grave *Mae Questel at the Internet Archive *Mae Questel at Behind the voice actors *Mae Questel at Otrrpedia Category:Article stubs Category:People